If you enjoy reading Brussels Playbook, please share it with your colleagues and friends.

TIME TO DEPORT COMMISSION-SPEAK: The European Commission would prefer you do not speak about “deportations.” Spokesperson Margaritis Schinas told reporters Wednesday the EU “returns” failed asylum seekers because “deportations is a term we prefer to forget in Europe.” While that may be so, it’s hard to forget the Commission is very happy to accept deportations via the EU-Turkey migration deal.

COMMISSION — JUNCKER WANTS TO BEND BUDGET RULES TO BOOST EDUCATION: Jean-Claude Juncker will push for changes to the Stability and Growth Pact in his State of the Union speech next week by calling for more flexibility when assessing the deficit and debt of EU countries, two senior Commission officials familiar with the discussions told Tara Palmeri.

Juncker told commissioners at their retreat in Knokke last week he was considering calling for education and investment spending to be excluded from the EU countries’ budget deficit and debt calculations. Valdis Dombrovskis was vehemently opposed, while Pierre Moscovici and Marianne Thyssen backed Juncker. http://politi.co/2cBNkLP

COMMISSION — INTO THE IRISH AND POLISH FIRES, BUT UK IS TERRA PROHIBITA: Vice-President Andrus Ansip will be in Ireland today for a series of meetings on the digital single market, which is apparently not a coded reference to the Commission’s recent decision that Apple should claw back €13 billion in back taxes from Apple. Ansip will meet with Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny and Digital Minister Dara Murphy.

Marianne Thyssen, commissioner for employment and social affairs, is in Poland to meet Elżbieta Rafalska, minister for family, labor and social policy, and Senator Jarosław Obremski. On the agenda: the creation of an EU “social pillar” and updates to the Posted Workers Directive, which the Poles hate. All that activity marks quite a difference with the U.K.: there’s not a single commissioner scheduled to visit in the next month, though Donald Tusk will have a chat with Theresa May about the Bratislava summit, an event where May will be persona non grata.

BRATISLAVA SUMMIT — WHAT’S (NOT) ON THE AGENDA? European Council President Donald Tusk had already made clear that Brexit is not going to be the main topic of conversation at the informal summit taking place next week in Slovakia. Now he’s taken taxation off the table, after meeting Enda Kenny. Read Tusk’s comments here: http://bit.ly/2csJHat

**A message from Google: When we started the Digital News Initiative, we wanted to hear from news organisations, content creators and media outlets about their most innovative projects. Since then, we’ve been #mindblown by their amazing ideas. See a selection here.**

INTER-INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS — SOCIALISTS DEMAND MORE FROM JUNCKER: Gianni Pittella, president of Parliament’s Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, sat down with Jean-Claude Juncker for an hour yesterday and had a clear message for him, according to sources briefed on the meeting. Socialist MEPs won’t be supporting him for free in the coming year. They want a doubling of the EU Investment Plan (EFSI), a swift implementation of the CCCTB tax reform, a blacklist of tax havens, and more “globalization adjustment funds.” Playbook hears Juncker smiled but did not commit. Playbook also sees Socialists slowly realizing that without their support, Juncker lacks close allies in the EU system.

ECJ — DOUBLES IN SIZE AS THE ECHR SHRINKS: Six new judges have taken their seats in the ECJ: Barna Berke (Hungary), Ricardo da Silva Passos (Portugal), Octavia Spineanu-Matei (Romania), Zoltán Csehi (Hungary), Constantinos Iliopoulos (Greece), Anna Marcoulli (Cyprus) and Dean Spielmann (Luxembourg) — http://bit.ly/2c8uMkP. The European Court of Human Rights, meanwhile, seems to have reduced a much higher judicial backlog without adding any judges.

Associations Egmont and Tepsa have released a new joint report outlining the “completely opposite justice reform strategies of the European Union and the Council of Europe … the doubling of the EU General Court has become the new symbol of a generally obese system of EU institutions.” http://bit.ly/2c8umLo. H/t P.A. Caron

TODAY IN PARLIAMENT…

Foreign Affairs Committee: A discussion with Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and Steven Ciobo, the country’s minister for trade, tourism and investment, followed by another with Franck Brenner, director general of Eurocontrol, the EU police agency. http://bit.ly/2cs2cfh

Environment Committee: László Sólymos, Slovak minister of environment will visit; and the committee will vote on giving EP consent to the Council decision to sign up to the Paris climate change agreement and recommendations ahead of the COP22 Marakech meeting in November. http://bit.ly/2cs1xKM

Civil Liberties, Justice, Home Affairs Committee: David Miliband will present his work as head of the International Rescue Committee; presentation by the Commission on new resettlement proposals; an update on European drug use in 2015; update on discussions with Council on external border checks. http://bit.ly/2cs31on

Agriculture Committee: MEPStefan Eck will present his thoughts on “minimum standards for the protection of farm rabbits,” which, unlike pigs, calves and hens, do not benefit from EU protective measures.

Cyborg event: The Greens are hosting an event about the “merging of man and machine” in the Altiero Spinelli building, Room 1G3, this morning from 9:30 a.m. More here: http://bit.ly/2cjOE8h

MEPs APPOINTED TO LEAD WORK ON PROPOSALS OVERHAULING EU ASYLUM RULES: Italian 5Star MEP Laura Ferrara takes the Asylum Procedures Directive, which sets out the processes for granting and withdrawal of asylum status. Slovenian S&D Tanja Fajon takes the Asylum Qualification Directive, which sets out who is qualified for international protection and introduces common rights for asylum seekers. (Clarification from Tuesday’s Playbook: While Fajon is yet to secure a mandate from all MEPs to begin discussions with national governments on the matter, she remains the lead MEP on the proposal to grant visa-free access for Kosovars.)

Dutch Liberal Sophie in ‘t Veld takes the Recast of the Asylum Reception Directive, which updates what countries must provide to asylum seekers while their application is being processed. Swedish GUE Malin Björk takes the Union Resettlement Framework, with the task of shaping mandatory refugee quotas to make them more palatable for Eastern European countries.

EPP GOES TO VILNIUS: Manfred Weber and other senior MEPs are in Lithuania to discuss Baltic security with Ursula von der Leyen, the German defense minister. The former Ukrainian economy minister, Aivaras Abromavičius, and Lithuania’s opposition leader in the country’s parliament, Andrius Kubilius, will also attend the meeting. http://bit.ly/2cjYxmz

MIGRATION TROUBLES …

Roger Helmer, a UKIP MEP, has a novel migration policy suggestion: “So we’re building a wall around the Calais terminal to keep the migrants out. Why not build it round the Jungle Camp and keep them in?” Err, because that would be kidnapping, for one thing. http://bit.ly/2cjF45e

Segregated education: The Austrian interior minister has threatened to sue Hungary for not taking back migrants, and Denmark has vowed to reject migrants at the border. Now the Danish immigration minister, Inger Støjberg, says she supports segregation in schools on the basis of ethnicity. Morten Skaerbaek has more in Danish: http://bit.ly/2cjDIrl, or in English: http://reut.rs/2cjEBQA

AGRICULTURE — NEW FRONT OPENS IN LOBSTER WARS: North American lobsters are threatening native European ones, according to Swedish environmental experts. EU country experts agreed Tuesday to look into the situation, which could result in a ban on all imports of U.S. lobster, despite uproar from stateside industry representatives. Penelope Overton has more: http://bit.ly/2crJh4c

NATO — GERMANY TESTS AIR DEFENSES IN LATVIA AGAINST RUSSIA: German and Latvian troops have begun a joint exercise near the Russian border lasting until the end of October as part of a NATO drive to strengthen air defenses. “Our biggest concern is the unpredictability of Russia,” said Lieutenant General Raimonds Graube. Sabine Siebold has more: http://reut.rs/2cjpk2l

IRELAND — GOVERNMENT WINS APPLE APPEAL VOTE IN PARLIAMENT: The result was a comfortable 93 to 36 vote win for the government. Enda Kenny said the Commission’s ruling “could not be more damaging or further from the truth.” http://bit.ly/2c68LET

GERMANY — MERKEL SPEAKS ABOUT WEEKEND DEFEAT: Three days after sinking to third place behind the far-right AfD in local elections, Merkel did her best to reassure. “Germany will remain Germany,” she said, adding, the refugee situation “today is many times better than a year ago.” More here from Madeleine Chambers and Michael Nienaber: http://reut.rs/2c8waUp

GERMANY — WOLFGANG SCHÄUBLE GOES SOFT (NOT): First he gave Portugal and Spain a pass on their deficits. Then he announced a tax break for German taxpayers next year. That has Matthew Karnitschnig wondering: Is Wolfgang Schäuble going soft in his old age? It seems not. “What may appear to be a late conversion in the position on spending of the famously austere champion of fiscal rectitude is, in fact, nothing more than political opportunism … Germany faces a general election next year … his strategy now is to prevent the situation from getting worse.” http://politi.co/2cbzFMo

GERMANY AND TURKEY — NOT FRIENDS, BUT ALLIES: Germany’s diplomatic priority these days is focused on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s wounded pride. The root of the tension is not the refugee crisis, writes Matthew Karnitschnig. Nor is it the recent failed coup. The Turkish leader’s ire was stirred by a contentious historical question: Should the killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule during World War I be characterized as genocide? More here: http://politi.co/2cD69y5

FRANCE — HOLLANDE: COMMENTATOR-IN-CHIEF. “Throughout his presidency, François Hollande has met with reporters to try and explain his actions, mull his mistakes, exchange gossip on French politics, criticize his own Socialist Party, leak confidential national security documents and dish the dirt on his prime ministers or personal advisers,” writes Pierre Briançon. “It seems to have all been part of a cleverly calculated re-election campaign.” http://politi.co/2cbzFMo

UK — HEADMISTRESS MAY VOWS TO BRING BACK ACADEMIC SELECTION IN SCHOOLS: A defiant Theresa May vowed to push ahead with the reintroduction of academic selection in state education Wednesday in a move likely to spark the first major test of her premiership. Speaking to the influential 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs, the British prime minister vowed to introduce a “21st-century education system” with an “element of selection.” Tom McTague http://politi.co/2ciTqUX

UK — OPINION: BRITAIN’S POLES DESERVE BETTER. The Polish Embassy in London has dealt with almost 20 hate crimes since the Brexit vote. Philip Boyles argues that much of the issue is rooted in a misunderstanding of the impact Poles have had on Britain’s on the economy. “The British tabloid press and populist politicians typically vilify Poles as swan-eating savages who have swooped in to undercut the prices of local workers while overcrowding nurseries and NHS hospital wards … But that’s not the way it is … When women started to enter the British labor force in large numbers, they didn’t ‘steal’ jobs from men … In reality, migrants have expanded the economy.” More here: http://politi.co/2cqmuXq

ROMANIA — NEW INTERIOR MINISTER: Dragos Tudorache will replace Petre Toba after the latter was booted due to corruption allegations. http://bit.ly/2cjBDeT

ESTONIA — KALJURAND STILL CONSIDERING PRESIDENCY: The country’s popular foreign minister, Marina Kaljurand, still hasn’t confirmed whether she will stand in the presidential vote September 24. http://bit.ly/2cjHdxV

LITHUANIA — PRESIDENT DEMANDS DEFENSE MINISTER RESIGN OVER EXPENSIVE KITCHEN UTENSILS: The Public Procurement Office revealed the military had bought kitchen utensils at prices eight times higher than the market value, prompting President Dalia Grybauskaitė to demand Defense Minister Juozas Olekas resign. http://bit.ly/2cjgVf2

SLOVAKIA — JOURNALIST INTERROGATED FOR WRITING ABOUT FICO ALLY: A journalist was questioned for two hours on Tuesday by prosecutors investigating whether he defamed Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák. http://bit.ly/2ck915r

TRUMP’S PAY-FOR-PLAY SCANDAL: Nick Gass on Trump’s payments to Pam Bondi, a Florida office holder, who subsequently dropped legal action against Trump University and went on to endorse Trump for president. http://politi.co/2bUIbRR

PARLIAMENT’S HOUSE OF HISTORY OPENING POSTPONED: The opening is expected to be postponed from November this year to May next year. The Parliament’s bureau, which runs the administration, is meeting Monday to discuss increasing the security budget.

APPOINTED:Fabrice Lacroix has been appointed as managing director of AFP, taking over from Rémi Tomaszewski, who is moving to the ministry of culture and communications, where he has been appointed inspector general of cultural affairs.

BIRTHDAYS: Cleary Gottlieb’s Claire Froitzheim.

PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT Harry Cooper and Zoya Sheftalovich

THANKS to Simon Taylor, Stephen Brown

**A message from Google: A free and independent press is essential for clean politics, public health and a fair judiciary. It’s also something only 13% of the world’s population enjoys, according to Freedom House. Press Start was founded by Transitions, which trained thousands of journalists in Central and Eastern Europe in the post-communist era. It works by crowdfunding reporters worldwide who risk their careers, and sometimes lives, to speak truth to power. Their work is dangerous — and often struggles to reach a wider audience because of language issues. The Digital News Initiative helped create the platform: now funders can back projects like reporting on Macedonia’s dysfunctional hospitals. “In an interconnected world, it’s not charity to support honest journalism. It’s common sense”, David Rennie, Washington bureau chief of The Economist (and a former Brussels correspondent) says on their site. More info here.**